Chapter 386: Longevity Lock
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Just as Lo Pingsha mentioned the sugar pancake, Yu Niaoniao recalled something that had happened when she was young.
At that time, she was only seven years old. She had to go to the Feng clan’s class every day.
Feng Lianghan was the patriarch of the Feng family. He had funded the construction of the school. As long as someone was a child of the family, he could go to school for free. If he studied well, he could even get a scholarship.
Feng Lianghan was knowledgeable, to begin with. He was fully capable of teaching Yu Niaoniao.
But he still felt that children should be with their peers. That way, it would stimulate their nature and help their personalities grow.
Not only did Yu Niaoniao have to go to the clan school to attend classes, but even Shen Junzhi, who had later become Feng Lianghan’s student, had to go to the clan school to attend classes.
The two of them were the only two outsiders in the clan school. It was inevitable that they would be ostracized.
Yu Niaoniao was thick-skinned and good at fighting. If anyone dared to bully her, she could hit them back on the spot. After that, she could still smile cheekily and act as if nothing had happened. No one could do anything to her.
He was not in good health and his mind was sensitive.
After only three days of school, he could not take it anymore and told Feng Lianghan that he did not want to go to school.
Feng Lianghan naturally did not agree.
He personally sent Shen Junzhi to school and instructed the teacher to take good care of him before returning.
The teacher was very busy and could not keep looking out for Shen Junzhi. The group of naughty children tore up the words Shen Junzhi had just written when the teacher was not paying attention. Not only that, but they also splashed all the ink on Shen Junzhi’s face and body.
After that, everyone laughed together.
They pointed at Shen Junzhi and laughed at him for being a bookwvorm. He only knew how to read all day long. He was really a fool.
Then everyone began to shout in unison.
“Fool! Fool! Shen Junzhi is a big fool!”
The teacher was furious. He jumped up to grab the mischievous students.
In the end, he did not manage to catch them and was quite tired.
The teacher had no choice but to give Shen Junzhi half a day off to go back and change his clothes.
Shen Junzhi stood up and walked out. During the process, someone tripped him.
He stumbled and fell awkwardly to the ground.
The jade pendant he had been wearing around his neck fell out and hit the ground, breaking in half.
Yu Niaoniao sat in the corner with her legs crossed, with the brush in her hand spinning smoothly.
She watched as Shen Junzhi got up and reached out to pick up the broken jade pendant.
The jade pendant should be important to him. His fingers trembled and his eyes turned red.
The teacher hurriedly helped him up.
“Junzhi, where did you fall? Do you want a doctor to take a look at you?” Shen Junzhi shook his head and left with the broken jade pendant.
The teacher roared at the mischievous students.
“Look at what you’ve done! Shen Junzhi is such an obedient child, but he was bullied by you! Let your parents come to school later. I want to talk to them in person!”
The students immediately shrank their necks and begged the teacher not to invite their parents.
Yu Niaoniao stood up and walked out.
The teacher shouted at her, “Where are you going during class? Sit back down!” Yu Niaoniao held her stomach and shouted exaggeratedly.
“Ouch, my stomach hurts. I must have eaten something bad. I’m going to the toilet. I can’t take it anymore!”
With that, she ran out.
The Master was furious and shouted at her back.
“Yu Niaoniao, you’re skipping class again! Come back!”
Yu Niaoniao ran quickly, ignoring how angry the teacher behind her was.
After leaving the school, she walked home along the road.
However, when she returned home, she did not see Shen Junzhi.
After asking, she found out that Shen Junzhi had not returned at all.
Yu Niaoniao was afraid that he would do something stupid, so she told her parents about this and asked them to send someone to look for Shen Junzhi.
She went out to look for him herself.
In the end, she found Shen Junzhi by the river.
The kid was squatting by the river, holding the broken jade pendant and secretly crying.
Yu Niaoniao walked over and said like a little adult, “You’re so old, yet you’re still crying.”
Shen Junzhi quickly wiped his tears. “I’m not crying.”
Yu Niaoniao squatted down beside him.
“Then why are you hiding here?”
Shen Junzhi tugged at the hem of his shirt. “I’m washing clothes here.”
The hem of his shirt was still wet. The ink had been washed off.
Yu Niaoniao looked at his face and saw that his eyes were swollen from crying.
Shen Junzhi quickly turned his head and looked elsewhere.
Yu Niaoniao did not expose him.
She took out an oil paper bag.
“You haven’t eaten at a time like this. You must be hungry, right? I have some sugar pancakes here. My mother specially made them for me. They’re delicious.
Try them too.”
Shen Junzhi said that he was not hungry.
But in the next moment, his stomach growled loudly.
Yu Niaoniao laughed rudely.
Shen Junzhi was embarrassed by the laugh.
Yu Niaoniao forcefully stuffed the oil paper bag into his hand.
“Eat, eat. You’ll feel much better after eating some sweet food.”
Shen Junzhi was indeed hungry.
Boys his age could not withstand hunger the most. In the end, he succumbed to the temptation of delicious food.
He carefully placed the jade pendant aside before starting on the sugar pancake.
The surface of the sugar pancake was a layer of soft glutinous rice skin, and there was sweet white sugar filling inside. When he took a bite, the white sugar filling would overflow, and in an instant, the sweetness filled his entire mouth.
While he was eating, Yu Niaoniao picked up the shattered jade pendant.
The jade pendant was broken into several pieces.
It took Yu Niaoniao a lot of effort to piece it together.
She looked at the jade pendant and asked curiously.
“So it’s a longevity lock. There’s even writing on it.”
Before she could take a closer look, Shen Junzhi quickly put away the white jade longevity lock and placed it in his arms like a treasure.
Yu Niaoniao pursed her lips and complained, “Look at how petty you are! I’ve already given you candy, but you can’t even let me take another look at the longevity lock.”
At that time, Shen Junzhi was still a half-grown child and did not have such heavy thoughts.
“Mother gave me this longevity lock. My birth characters are engraved on it. I can’t show it to anyone else.”
Ever since then, Yu Niaoniao had never seen Shen Junzhi take out the white jade longevity lock.
After so many years, Yu Niaoniao had almost forgotten about the longevity lock.
It wasn’t until Lo Pingsha mentioned sugar pancakes that she suddenly remembered.
Not long ago, Lo Pingsha had drawn a painting of the scene in Imperial Concubine Yue’s coffin. In that painting, the little prince was wearing a white jade longevity lock.
The design was identical to the longevity lock Shen Junzhi was wearing.
The doubts buried in Yu Niaoniao’s heart were immediately resolved.
She spoke to Granny Xiu Yan and Lo Pingsha.
“I suddenly remember something very important. I’m going to look for Duke Lang!”
With that, she lifted her skirt and rushed out..